RNC
Donald Trump’s GOP Acceptance Speech Gives America Whiplash
The former president, subdued in recounting last week’s assassination attempt, went right back to dishing out MAGA red meat. Despite talk of “unity” at the Republican National Convention, underneath was the same old right-wing agenda.
By Eric Lutz
RNC
Dana White Plays The Trump Hype Man
On the final night of the Republican National Convention, the UFC boss offered a portrait of MAGA machismo that has become all the more potent in recent days.
By Dan Adler
2024 Election
Tucker Carlson Portrays Donald Trump, of All People, as Trying to “Return Democracy to the United States”
The right-wing talker once privately mocked the former president’s stolen election claims. But on stage Thursday night at the Republican National Convention, Carlson lauded Trump as a “responsible” and “unifying” leader who could bring a fractured nation back together.
By Katie Herchenroeder
Barack Obama Is Basically Begging Joe Biden to Drop Out
The former president has reportedly “told allies in recent days that…he thinks [Biden] needs to seriously consider the viability of his candidacy.”
By Bess Levin
2024 Election
The Democrats’ Revolt May Have Finally Pierced Joe Biden’s Defenses
The negative numbers, on top of the latest push by Nancy Pelosi, are becoming harder for the president to bat away. “It’s all devastating,” one Bidenworld insider says.
By Chris Smith
HIGHBROW DESPICABLE
GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz Raised Eyebrows With His Eyebrows at the RNC
The Congressman, currently the subject of an ethics investigation, elicited a different kind of investigation after his pro-gun, pro-Trump hype speech—an inquiry into what is going on with those ultra-manicured brows of his.
By Kase Wickman
RNC
Fox News’ Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum Are in “Heaven” Covering 2024 Chaos
The anchors talked with Vanity Fair about Biden’s woes, Trump’s relationship with the conservative cable giant, and covering the 2024 election’s nonstop chaos. “It’s like drinking from a fire hose,” Baier said.
By Eric Lutz
opinion
J.D. Vance Never Was and Never Will Be the Voice of Appalachia
The place where I grew up is chronically misunderstood by conservatives and liberals alike. The vice presidential candidate’s self-serving mythology only made things worse.
By Tracy Moore
2024 Election
Joe Biden Came to Vegas to Energize Latino Democrats. He Left With Calls to Step Aside
The president is in dire need of support from Hispanic voters. But now facing abysmal polling after a bad debate, Biden’s COVID no-show at Wednesday’s UnidosUS conference only punctuated the bitter truth. “He’s completely damaged goods,” said one attendee.
By Adrian Carrasquillo
Inside the Hive
Why the Christian Right Believes Donald Trump Is “Anointed by God”
Author Katherine Stewart and sociologist Samuel Perry explain how the attempt on the former president’s life has only solidified his messiah-like mythos—and how Trump has turned Christian nationalists into his own electoral army.
By Brian Stelter
J.D. Vance Fondly Recalls His Grandmother Having 19 Loaded Guns Stashed Around Her House: “That’s American Spirit”
The Ohio senator proudly shared the anecdote just five days after Donald Trump was shot.
By Bess Levin
2024 Election
J.D. Vance, Once a Die-Hard Never Trumper, Completes His MAGAmorphosis
The Ohio Senator and Hillbilly Elegy author took the stage as Donald Trump’s running mate on Wednesday night at the Republican National Convention, where he leaned into his personal biography and struck a populist tone — while side-stepping some issues, like abortion, where he holds extreme views.
By Katie Herchenroeder
HOPE AND CHANGE?
Where Do the Obamas Stand on Joe Biden? “If President Obama Was All In, He’d Be All In.”
As the threat of another Trump presidency looms, America turns its eyes to Michelle and Barack Obama, still the most powerful politicians in the world—whether they like it or not.
By Kate Andersen Brower
Adam Schiff: Joe Biden Can’t Beat Trump, Should Drop Out Now
Schiff is at least the 20th House Democrat to call for Biden to leave the race.
By Bess Levin
RNC
Democrats at Republican National Convention Witness Donald Trump’s “Tremendously Aligned” GOP
The Republican Party is “pointing in a singular direction toward MAGA extremism,” says one progressive advocate. Meanwhile, Democrats remain fractured over who should be at the top of their ticket.
By Eric Lutz
Tucker Carlson Told Trump to Pick J.D. Vance or the Deep State Might Assassinate Him: Report
That’s one way to back a candidate.
By Bess Levin
the trump card
Amber Rose, Who Started Anti-Rape Culture SlutWalk Protest, Is Now a Full-On MAGA Shill
The pop culture fixture called Donald Trump “such an idiot” in 2016. At the RNC on Monday, she framed him as the country's only hope.
By Kase Wickman
BOOK EXCERPT
The 1992 Republican Convention Jump-Started the Culture Wars—and the GOP’s Prime-Time Extremism
In an excerpt of his book The Naughty Nineties, David Friend recounts the partisan political battle America has been fighting for three decades, beginning with Pat Buchanan and George H.W. Bush in Houston.
By David Friend
RNC
Nikki Haley Wants Her Own Voters to Get Off the Fence—and Back Donald Trump
During her Tuesday night speech at the Republican National Convention, Haley addressed her past feud with the former president while giving him her wholehearted support: “You don’t have to agree with Trump 100 percent of the time to vote for him.”
By Katie Herchenroeder
RNC
At the Republican National Convention, Ron DeSantis Gets a Warm Welcome Back Into the MAGA Fold
The Florida governor, who suffered a brutal primary defeat to Donald Trump, was met with thunderous applause during his Tuesday speech, in which he heaped praise on the former president while calling Joe Biden a “figurehead.”
By Eric Lutz